Automatic pistol



Patented Ma 12, 1931 PATENT LEON THIRY, on nanssnns, BELGIUM auron'm'rrcrrsron Application filed Kay 3, 1929, Serial No. 860,130, and in Germanyflay 7, 1928.

When use is made of an automatic firearm it frequently happens that themagazine is withdrawn while a cartridge is still engaged in the barrel.If the magazine is then '5 replaced even while it is still empty,- theoperator runs the risk of being unaware of or having forgotten theexistence of a cartridge yivlgh may be in the barrel and ready to be Theobject of the invention is to remove this disadvantage.

, For this purpose, according to the invention, if a cartridge is in thebarrel at the moment when the magazine is inserted, the relativemovement produced between the magazine and its lodgment is employed forputting the weapon in a position of safety.v

It goes without saying that if the firearm isi already in a condition ofsafety the insertion of the ma azine at this moment will simply leavethe rearm in this condition. The existence of this previous conditionofrsafety may result, in a mechanism putting the firearm in a conditionof safety, by the withdrawal or absence of the magazine or by any othermechanism.

The invention also provides for the fact that when the magazine has beenwithdrawn from its lodgment while a cartridge is in the barrel, a memberprojecting into the magazine lodgment prevents the latter from being putback into place as lon as the said cartridge remains in the barre Theinvention can obviously be carried into efiect in a great number ofways.

The accompanying drawings illustrate simplyby way of example and in anonlimitin manner some forms of construction. 4o 7 .these drawings:

arrangement by means of which the firearm is put into a condition ofsafety by the insertion of the magazine if a cartridge is the barrel.

T Figure 2 shows another arrangement prolong as a cartridge is in thebarrel.

0 In the case shown in Figure 1, the various Figure -1 is adiagrammaticview of anparts occupy the position shown in the drawing when themagazine is withdrawn.

When the magazine is again inserted the lever 3 pivoted at 3p upon theframe of the firearm and the end 3f of which projects into the lodgmentof the magazine, will be displaced in thedirection of the arrow X. Thisdisplacement will produce the displacement of the member 5. This memberrests upon the part 31a of the chamber 31 capable of uttmg the firearmin a condition of safety y the fact that it places itself in the notch7a of the trigger 7 pivoted at 7 p. The safety member 31 is held in oneor the other of its positions by a'spring 317' acting upon two atsprovided upon the said member 31 which is pivoted at 31;). The member 5is provided with a projection 5b which cooperates with the head 66 of amember 6 one part 6a of which is adapted to penetrate into the chamberof the barrel when there is no cartridge in the latter. This member 6 isconstantly urged by the spring 6r in a direction such that the member60, does not occupy the chamber of the barrel. The relative tensions ofthe 5 rings 61- and 311' are such that, as a result 0 the movementproduced by the displacement of the member 5, the spring 61' will beadapted to yieldbefore the spring 31r permits the displacement of thesafety member 31. Conseqfilently, if there is no cartridge in thebarrel, t e pro ection 56 of the member 5 will move the head 66 of themember 6 by the cooperation of the inclines with which the contactingarts are provided and the proection 5b Wlll place itself behind thehead6b.

unn have simply slide along the part 31a of the safety member 31 withoutmoving the latter. On the contrary, if a cartridge is situated in thechamber of the barrel 2k the member 6 will not be able to yield to theaction it undergoes as a result of the cooperation of the inclines onthe projection 56 and on its head 66 so that the member 5, in order toanswer to the pressure it under oes'on the part of the lever 3 moves inthe irection of the arrow X when the ma azine is inserted, will have toslide along t e incline on the head 6b of the memher 6 while moving thelever 31 in the directhis movement, the member 5 will move when thefirearm is cooked. The lever 3 is constantly urged to engage in thelodgment for the magazine by means of a spring 37' the tension of whichis suflicient to move the member 6 against the action of its returnspring 61-. I

As shown in Fig. 1, the projection 51) may if desired be formed by afinger pivoted at 5?) upon the member 5 and adapted to be disenfiagedunder the action of a spring 5b-'.

y means of this arrangement, when the lever 3 moves in an oppositedirection to that of the arrow X, as occurs when the magazine isremoved, the member 5 will be able to move without producing thedisplacementof the safet member '31 if the tension of the spring 5b" 1ssuch that this spring becomes compressed before the spring 317" permitsthe displacement of the safety member 31.

In the case shown in Figure 2, the safety member 31 pivoted at 31; isadapted to act by means of its face 3172, upon the trigger so as to putthe firearm in a condition of safety. In this member moves a slide block3; which projects into the magazine lodgment against the opposing actionof its return spring 37" when the end Gla'of the lever 6, the end 6a ofwhich is adapted to engage in the chamber of the barrel, acts upon thepart 3f of this member 3 This action is produced as soon as acartridgeis engaged in the chamber of the barrel 2k.

Nevertheless,-if at this moment the magazine is in its lodgment, themember 3f abuts against this magazine and it cannot yield to thepressure exerted by the member 6. In order to permit the part 60. ofthis member to be withdrawn however, one of the arms such for example asthe arm 692 which this member 6 comprises, is formed of an elasticmaterial. The tension given to this arm is such that if the magazine isnot in its lodgment the spring'3f" will be compressed before this armyields. 4

When the magazine is placed in position if a cartridge is in the barrel,the end 3f 'which projects mto the magazine lodgment is carried along inthe direction of the arrow X thus placing the member 31in the safetyposition. The safety device is disengaged by means of one of the memberswhich move when the pistol shown in Figure 2 is cooked. For this purposethe movable breech is provided with .a projection not shown in thedrawings, adapted to. abut against the arm 311d carried 'by 'themember31 in sucha way as to move this arm in this member in the oppositedirection to that of the arrow X. The projection provided upon themovable breech will however be situated at such a distance that beforeit comes into contact with the above mentioned arm 31, the cartridgewhich was situated in the chamber of the barrel will have been extractedby the normal movement of the usual extractor so that the member 3f willhave been able to withdraw. completely in the interior of the member 31so as to permit the rotation of the latter in the opposite direction tothat of the arrow X in spite of the presence of the magazine in itslodgment. In the case shown in F i. 3, the sear 4 is put in a conditionof safety by a stop 37:. which becomes placed beneath an incline ip onthe sear. This stop 37:. is made rigid with a member 3 pivoting at 3pupon the frame and moved when the magazine 2m is withdrawn into itsoperative locking position by a spring 31'.

This member 3 is controlled in its locking position as a function of thepresence of a cartridge in the barrel 210 of the firearm. This controlis obtained by means of a lever 6 pivoted at 6p upon the frame and oneof the arms 6a of which penetrates into the barrel while the other arm6?) penetrates into a suitable notch formed in a slide block 6k urgedout of its lodgment by a spring 61' bearing upon the end of the abovementioned lodgment formed in the frame. The locking of the safety deviceby the said lever is obtained by forming in the member 3 a notch 3m inwhich engages the above mentioned slide block 670. When the member 3 ismoved into the position for which it puts the sear in a condition ofsafety, this member 3 will be locked as long as there is a cartridge-inthe barrel 270.

In order to withdraw this cartridge it will be sufficient to act in theusual manner upon the slide 2g of the firearm. When this operation hasbeen eifected the arm 6a, will penetrate into the chamber of the barreland the I arm 6] will push the slide block 6 Ir: to the end of itslodgment and this slide block will thus release the member 3 which maybe brought into its initial inoperative position by one of Q the meansdescribed above.

It is to be noted that the magazine 2m can not be put back in place aslong as a cartridge remains in the barrel. In fact, in order to takeupits place again the magazine must push before it the end 3; of themember 3 I trol device, constructed in such a way as to cause thefirearm to be put in a' condition of safetywhen the magazine is removedand for this to be "done in such a way that the sub- .as specified aboveto be combined with a con- 1 sequent insertion of the magazine leavesthe 1 a Cartridge is at firearm in a condition of safety if it isalready in such a condition.

By lockin the finger forming the projection 5?) in tie form ofconstruction shown in Figure 1, in such a way as to prevent it swingingabout the pivot 5b, a firearm will be obtained which will be ut in acondition of safety whenvthe magazine is removed. if

this moment in the barrel. It goes without saying that when the magazineis again inserted it will not afiect this condition of safety. What Iclaim is:

1. Automatic weapon com risin an element having a portion capa le 0pr0jecting into the seat of the magazine so as to be displaced by themagazine u on its introduction into the said seat, a sa ety device forthe weapon controlled by this element, an element one part of which iswithdrawn beyond the chamber of the gun when the latter contains acartridge, and means providing a connection between this element and thesaid element, so that the replacin of the weapon in condition for firingby t e reintroduction of the magazine into its seat would be impossibleas long as a cartridge still remains in the chamber of the gun.

' these portions into the 0 ing urge 2. Automatic weapon comprising anelement having a portion capable of pro'ecting into the seat of themagazine so as to be dis-. placed by the magazine upon its introductioninto the said seat, a sa ety arrangement for the weapon controlled bythis element, an element, whereof a ortion is extended be yond thechamberof t e when the latter contains a cartrid e, an a member whichpositively places t e safety arrangement in its safety position whenthis member en a es upon said element, which by reason 0 t is engagementis urged to enetrate by one of amber of'the gun, this penetrationnothaving taken place and the placin in safety position being effectivelypro uced if the magazine is returned into position, and then that acartridge is again placed into the chamber of the gun.

3. Automatic weapon comprising an element having a portion capable ofprojecting into the seat of the magazine so as to be displaced by themagazine upon'its introduction into the said seat, a safety device forthe weapon controlled b this element, an element, a portion of which isextended beyond the chamber of the when the latter does not contain acartridge and a member which positively places the safety arran ementinto the safety position when it is isplaced by the returning of themagazine to position, the above named ortion capable or? projectin intothe seat 01': the magazine beby a return spring to not project into theseat of the magazine, this prejee tion not takin place except when thispor tion is pushe by another portion of the said element, a portion ofwhich is fed beyond thechamber of the gun when the latter contains acartridge.

4. Automatic weapon according to claim 3 in which the safet lever has anelement capable of being i uenced at the moment of cooking by an elementof the cooking mechanism, so as to provide the freeing of the detentpreviously obstructed.

5. Automatic weapon comprising a safety arrangement placed in its safetyposition by the withdrawal of the magazine by means of signature.

LEON THIRY.

the penetration of an element into the seat of I for obstructing this a

